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Stealth
Rangers, thieves and monks can effectively become invisible by using their stealth ability, which is also known as the Hide in Shadows ability. This ability differs from invisibility in a few important ways: * the character must pass a per round check to see if they've successfully remained hidden; * if the state is broken as the result of a non-hostile action, the character gradually becomes visible over a 2 round period (allowing time to retreat); * stealth is more easily broken than invisibility; * it has an unlimited number of uses. Mechanics The stealth ability is governed by the Hide in Shadows and Move Silently skills. the original game, these two skills were represented by a single Stealth skill. The starting value of these skills varies based on class, race and dexterity. See the Thieving Abilities article for more information. In order for the stealth action icon to be enabled, the character must be wearing light armor or less (e.g., a robe). If heavier armor is worn, the stealth button will be disabled. When a character attempts to enter stealth mode, the first condition checked is whether the character can see any hostile enemies. If hostile enemies are present, the character will fail to enter stealth. What's relevant is whether or not the character sees the enemy, not whether the enemy sees the character. For example, if a Mist Mephit blinds Imoen with a mist ball and that results in her not being able to see the mephit (or any other enemies), she can immediately enter stealth, even though the mephit can surely still see her. [Shadowdancers have an improved version of the stealth ability called Hide in Plain Sight, which allows them enter stealth whether they can see enemies or not.] Next, the character's Hide in Shadows and Move Silently skills are averaged together and compared against the lighting at the spot where the character is standing. A character standing in shadow has a better chance of succeeding than a character standing in light. If a character is standing in shadow, their sprite will be shaded. If these conditions pass, the character will effectively become invisible. If any condition fails, the character will have to wait one round (6 seconds) before a new attempt can be made. While invisible, a new skills check is made each round to determine if the character has successfully remained hidden. If the check fails, the character "leaves the shadows", slowly becoming visible again. Like normal invisibility, the character can freely move among most enemies without risking detection. Stealth will be broken if actions other than movement are performed, such as if the character: *interacts with the environment (e.g., opening doors/chests, picking something up, attacking, etc.) *uses an action icon, even if no action is ultimately performed. For example: **swaps weapons via the quick slots (swapping from the inventory screen will not break stealth) **searches for traps **uses cast (even if no spell is chosen) **uses "use an item" (even if no item is chosen) *travels to a new world area, including districts within a city such as traveling from the Athkatla docks to the slums Interestingly, characters can often interact with devices without breaking stealth. Also, using a group action icon doesn't break stealth. If stealth is broken by an aggressive action (such as setting a trap), the character immediately becomes visible. If stealth is broken by other means (such as opening a door or failing the skills check) the character has 2 rounds before they become visible. During this time, characters can avoid detection by breaking line of sight with any nearby enemies. Line of sight can be broken through movement, such as by rounding a corner, closing a door, or simply moving farther away (making increased movement speed a very desirable effect). Detection can also be avoided by using a spell, potion, or magic item to become invisible, but the line of sight must still be broken before stealth can be re-entered. Note that a character may appear to make a failed backstab attempt that doesn't break stealth. Such attacks are purely cosmetic and occur without an actual attack roll being made. These attacks can be turned off by enabling the No Cosmetic Attacks option on the feedback screen. When a hidden or invisible character performs a melee attack, they receive a +4 THAC0 bonus. This bonus is unrelated to backstabbing and is therefore awarded regardless of the attacker's: class, position relative to the target, or melee weapon used. No bonus is awarded for ranged attacks. Game Play * There is benefit to increasing the Hide in Shadows and Move Silently skills above 100. * Since the average of the skills is used, there is no benefit to having a higher value in one over the other * A character's sprite will be shaded when they are standing in shadow. * A blinded character is able to hide anytime, as long as no enemies are present within their extremely narrowed sight. [[Exploits#Blind Thief Trick|Blind Thief Trick].] * Spells and abilities that allow invisible creatures to be seen will also reveal creatures hidden in shadow. * Stealth may or may not prevent a creature from initiating dialog; the behavior various by situation. Related items Stealth boosting The following items offer a bonus to either the Hide in Shadows or Move Silently skills. Armor *Human Flesh *Shadow Armor *The Night's Gift Boots *Boots of Elvenkind *Worn Whispers Cloaks *Cloak of Elvenkind *Drow Piwafwi Cloak Rings *Mercykiller Ring *Ring of Duplication Potions *Potion of Perception *Potion of Power AC boosting The following armors offer improved armor class options for stealthy characters but with a stealth penalty. *Hide Armor (AC 6) *Elven Chain Mail (AC 5) *Elven Chain +1 (AC 4) *Sylvan Chain (AC 3) *Melodic Chain (AC 2) *Drow Elven Chain (AC 2) *Bladesinger Chain (AC 1) *Aslyferund Elven Chain (AC 0) *Drow Adamantine Chain +5 (AC 0) Improved versions of the Hide Armor (+1, +2 and +3) were introduced by The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay, but are not available to players. Category:Class abilities Category:Game mechanics